Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you a right of access to information held by public authorities. Any information we hold is eligible for release, but some information needs to be kept confidential. We can only refuse a request if:

we do not hold the information

the information falls under one of the exemptions described in the Act, in which case we will explain in our reply which exemption we think applies

it will cost us more than £450 to locate, retrieve and extract the information you have requested

the request is very unreasonable within a set criteria that we use to define this.

The Publication Scheme

The Act requires us to produce a Publication Scheme. By ‘publication’ we mean information that is available to the public in a variety of formats, for example, reports on paper or web pages.

The publication scheme is a document that describes the information we routinely publish, where you can find it, and whether we charge for it. It is not a list of our publications: it describes the kinds of information we publish. A full list of our publications is available in the publications section of this website.

Our publications are available, on request, in Braille, large print, audio-tape and community languages.

How to request information from us

Much of the information we hold is already available to you. Before you make an official request you should:

search our website for the information

check the Big Lottery Fund’s publication scheme.

If you would like to request information about The Big Lottery Fund, please email Freedomofinformation@biglotteryfund.org.uk. Your request must state your full name and it is helpful if you can give us as much detail as you can about the information that you are looking for. If you aren’t sure what information we hold on a particular topic then we will be happy to offer you further advice and assistance. We will acknowledge your request and must reply in full within 20 working days.

If you have requested information that relates to a third party we may need to consult with such parties in order to reach a view on whether the information can be released. When consulting with third parties the identity of the requestor will remain confidential and will not be disclosed.

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Requests for information relating to the state of the environment are handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We will provide you the information that you are seeking unless there is a good reason why we can’t. If there is, then we will explain why. To request information under these regulations you should follow the same process as for Freedom of Information requests.

Award partner advice notes

The award partner advice notes provide guidance on the implications of Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations on the Big Lottery Fund's Award Partners.

Transparency project

We are making some information that you might be interested in available proactively: